Kodrin's lone goal enough for Bears field hockey on senior night win over Cadets
Oct. 11—Oakdale field hockey has struggled to find the back of the net for large stretches of the season, particularly against stronger opponents. With Frederick paying the Bears a visit Monday evening, it seemed that could continue.
But with a little senior night momentum, Lillie Kodrin gave Oakdale a lead late in the first quarter. And that tally held up in a 1-0 win for the Bears over the Cadets.
"We've been having such a tough time getting goals on the board, and it makes me so proud of all of us," Kodrin said. "It wasn't just me putting it in the cage, it was a full team effort. I'm so happy for us."
Her strike came off a penalty corner that was inserted to Grayson Raiford, who passed to a cutting Kodrin. She got two shots off — the first saved, the second striking twine.
It gave Oakdale (5-7) momentum and a bit of breathing room against a strong Frederick team, which was bound to respond. The goal was the fourth in two games for Kodrin, one of the few Bears to find sustained offensive success this year.
"We haven't scored a ton, so she's hungry for it," Oakdale coach Sherry Moores said. "She just lives and breathes field hockey. She brings that passion every practice, every game."
It's apparent on the field, as Kodrin frequently has the ball on her stick around the net.
She has been a constant presence in the attacking end and leads the team's 14 seniors, who were honored before the game for their contributions to the team the past four years. And after the final buzzer, Kodrin led the Bears' customary victory lap.
"We've been through so much together as a team. We've had a different coach every year, and this is family to me," she said. "I'm going to go on and play in college, and I will have another family, but [these girls] will always be my family."
But before that, Kodrin and her teammates had to hold off the surging Cadets.
Frederick (6-4) pushed after a slow start, nearly tying the game just before the half as the ball snuck through Oakdale goalie Kendall Reidy in a scramble. But Madison Glover cleared the ball off the goal-line to preserve her team's lead.
The Cadets then sent a flurry of shots at Bears keeper Hannah Ware in the fourth quarter, who replaced Reidy at the break. Ware stood tall, sliding to stop a Julia Osborne shot and later kicking out a pair of Lindsay DeLauder attempts.
The two Oakdale goalies tallied their third combined shutout in a row.
"They saved our butts today. They were walls," Moores said.
The surge came after a scary moment late in the third quarter, when an errant stick hit Frederick's Sidney Tucci in the face, and she went down for several minutes. She was eventually helped to the sideline and later taken away to get stitches on her forehead.
The injury shook both teams, but after the extended break as the trainer tended to Tucci, the Cadets seemed to get a spring in their step as they played for her.
"We should've been playing like that the whole time," Frederick coach Carla McCarron said. "Good game, good even match. Just wish it could've gone the other way."
It ultimately went the Bears' way thanks to Kodrin, whose early senior night tally held up.
Oakdale didn't score again and found itself with yet another low scoring output. But this time, it didn't matter.
"We were like, 'This is not going to be an easy win guys. This is going to be back-to-back, both goals are going to be busy,'" Kodrin said. "And we just feel so good and so proud of ourselves."
